First planned for November 2017, then delayed to 2018, the long-troubled action open-world game Crackdown 3 will now be out in 2019, according to two people familiar with the game's release plans. It's an unusual move and another blow to Xbox's already weak first-party lineup for 2018.

The statement was issued to Windows Central, and says more will be shared about the game at the Xbox conference Monday morning:

Our fans' response to the signature antics and explosive gameplay of "Crackdown 3" has been incredible. To ensure we deliver the experience they deserve, "Crackdown 3" will be launching in Feb 2019. We look forward to sharing more on "Crackdown 3" this Sunday during the Xbox E3 2018 briefing.

One positive about the delay is that it does give Sumo Digital more time to work on polishing and refining the gameplay, time that Fable Legends and Scalebound unfortunately never got. And it also means Crackdown 3 will launch well away from Red Dead Redemption 2, too.

I really hope they are going all out on this one and spending all this time turning the game in to something special.
If all this hype and delay is met with a mediocre sequel to an already mediocre sequal, they'll never hear the end of it.

In the wake of community and political pressure following the livestreaming of the horrific terrorist attacks at Christchurch on Friday, Australian ISPs have started blocking some sites used to rehost footage of the livestream, including the infamous 8chan image board.